Category: BASF

Good afternoon, Members of the Board, dear shareholders.

I am Gomotsegang Brown Matloko, I am from Wonderkop community in Marikana. I am speaking to you directly from South Africa, on the effectiveness or better: the lack of effectiveness of BASF’s human rights and environmental due diligence measures within its supply chain.

BASF rightly emphasizes its commitment to sustainability and responsible sourcing. These commitments are laudable on paper. However, the true measure of commitment and responsibility lies not in policy documents, but in tangible outcomes on the ground. Concerning the sourcing of platinum from Sibanye-Stillwater in South Africa, we see a significant and persistent gap between stated intentions and reality. Weiterlesen

Regarding agenda item 2: Appropriation of profit

The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany proposes that the appropriation of profit proposed by the Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board be rejected.

Rationale:

The dividend is too high. BASF must invest significantly more in its own sites in order to create prospects for the future – especially at the Ludwigshafen site – in order to consistently move away from dependence on climate-damaging energies and achieve its own climate targets. It simply doesn’t add up when the Board of Executive Directors talks about a crisis, announces ever-increasing savings programs and job cuts, but still wants to pay out over 2 billion euros in dividends and benefits from government subsidies. Weiterlesen

Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed shareholders and executives of BASF,

Allow me to paint a picture for you. Imagine a nine-year-old girl, surrounded by her loving family at the dinner table—mom, dad, and older brother. They’re sharing stories and laughter, basking in the warmth of their togetherness. Then, the phone rings, shattering the tranquility. You see, that call brought news of a man—a husband, a father, a hardworking employee—called to duty to serve his employers. But instead of returning home to his family, he met a violent end, killed in cold blood and lit up in flames. His story, once one of love and dedication, was reduced to a footnote—a mere “necessary sacrifice” in the pursuit of profit and production – by Lonmin, by Sibanye-Stillwater, by BASF. Weiterlesen

My name is Ndikho Jokanisi Bomela. I was nine-years-old when I became an orphan after my father, Semi Jokanisi, was killed on August 13 2012 in Marikana.

I am a man now. I have been to entabeni, the mountain, to perform the Xhosa cultural initiation rites to become a man. But I am also a man because I have had to grow up fast after my father was killed.

My father died for a wage of R12500, which BASF’s suppliers of platinum, Lonmin, refused to engage with the striking mineworkers about — colluding instead to have the strike resolved by the South African police. Weiterlesen

Re agenda item 2: Appropriation of profit

The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany proposes that the appropriation of profit proposed by the Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board be rejected.

Rationale:

Once again, the proposed dividend, which is unchanged from the previous year, is too high. Instead of cutting jobs and investments in the urgently needed socio-ecological transformation of all BASF divisions, the dividend should be reduced. The current dividend policy is not sustainable, it is in fact a waste of resources: the proposed dividend amount of over EUR 3 billion can already no longer be paid from the free cash flow of EUR 2.7 billion in 2023. Weiterlesen

Re agenda item 2: Appropriation of profit

The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany proposes that the appropriation of profit proposed by the Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board be rejected.

Rationale:

The proposed dividend, which remains the same as in the previous year, is too high. A significant reduction would be appropriate in view of BASF’s investment needs and its ailing economic situation. A look back shows that income from operations (EBIT) fell significantly in 2022. In addition to the write-downs on Nord Stream 2, it is above all the massive write-downs on Wintershall Dea’s fossil fuel business in Russia that have given BASF an investment result of a record-breaking minus €4.9 billion in 2022. Weiterlesen